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Product Description

Product Description

Certified 5 times platinum by the RIAA 4/99

Amazon.ca

The beginning of Phil Collins's massively successful solo career coincided with the discord in his first marriage, turning Face Value into a compelling churn of emotions, from the utter disgust of "In the Air Tonight" (where Collins dryly comments, "If you told me you were drowning / I would not lend a hand") to the delight he feels in exploring a new relationship ("This Must Be Love"). Collins's thundering drums and punchy horn arrangements--a close approximation of Earth, Wind & Fire's sound, actually--clicked with the public, turning "I Missed Again" and "In the Air Tonight" into Top 20 singles and launching Collins's career as one of the biggest and most unlikely stars of the '80s. --Daniel Durchholz

Most helpful customer reviews

Phil Collins' first proper solo album Face Value was released in February of 1981. Phil was the last member of the band to do a proper solo album(the Brand X albums were a collaboration of sorts). When Face Value hit the streets, people were in awe over the excellent production(Phil co-produced with Hugh Padgham) and engineering of Hugh and were immediately aware that this album was a collection of letters to his wife whom left him. Also, the album had a collage of musical styles(Genesis to Motown to jazz to funk to soft rock to regular rock to art rock). The opening Top 20 hit In the Air Tonight was a classic that used the metaphor of a drowning man as the demise of his divorce. The track, like all the others features Phil's superb vocals and drumming but also showed he could play keyboards and write great songs. He wrote ten of the album's twelve tracks himself. I Missed Again was the album's other Top 20 hit and is another highlight featuring the Earth Wind and Fire horn section giving this track a Motown feel. This Must Be Love is an optimistic song about Phil rebounding from the demise of his first marriage to find peace with a new love in his life. The Roof is Leaking is a great country blues number with some killer slide guitar from Joe Partridge(although Clapton did play on an earlier take with the dobro) and banjo from Genesis touring guitarist/bassist Daryl Steurmer. The two instrumentals Droned and Hand in Hand are superb as well. My favorite track on the album is the ballad If Leaving Me is Easy which is a very sad song and will bring a tear to your eye after listening to the lyrics and the melody and orchestrations on the track. If this doesn't do the trick then you either are insensitive or a robot.Read more ›

Phil Collins has had an interesting career. Coming in for Genesis' third album to be the drummer, he then went on to become the lead vocalist after Peter Gabriel left. He also joined the Fusion group Brand X while in Genesis. In 1981 he launched his successful solo career with this album, "Face Value". He has even had a small acting career to go along with his career in music. Far from one expects from a star, at least in the way he looks, one has to respect his career and what he has accomplished. This first album from him very much fits his career. There is an iconic song, some puzzling song choices and some hidden gems as well.

The album opens with "In the Air Tonight", a piece which has staying power as we near 30 years later, and with no end in sight, nor would one expect there to be. It is a simple piece, and yet masterful in the way it is executed. I suppose it didn't hurt that it spawned an urban legend about its origins either, but it would still be with us even if that had not happened. Next up is "This Must be Love", a nice pleasant piece but one which is easily forgotten after the opener. Next comes an odd choice as Phil chooses to cover "Behind the Lines", a Genesis song which had originally been released less than a year before on the "Duke" album. It is a different version, but it seems like a strange thing to do. "The Roof Is Leaking" is the next track, a nice track which has a different feel than the first pieces, with Phil on piano, and it blends well into two instrumentals (though with voices as instruments) called "Droned" and "Hand in Hand", which closes out the first half of the album.

"I Missed Again" opens the second half of the album, once again a decent piece but not a classic, which made the top 20 as a single.Read more ›

Phil Collins' reputation has suffered substantially over the past twenty years. He may not have been mentioned by either David Brent or Alan Partridge, but it feels like it. Many Genesis fans haven't quite forgiven him for admitting that, before the 'We Can't Dance' album, the band deliberately decided to "sell out", in his words. Maybe it was the rapid drift towards MOR in his solo albums, the chain of failed marriages, or simple jealousy of his money-making, but the critics have not been kind to our Phil in recent years.I bought this as an LP when it first came out, and have now bought it as part of the new 3CD pack released in 2004 that is excellent value. I must admit I hadn't played the album for 20 years, and it really takes me back. In 2001, his stock was really high: he had been a fantastic vocal replacement for Peter Gabriel in Genesis, and he had won critical acclaim for his spare-time band, the jazz-rock specialists Brand X. So what if he did the odd cover of a Motown hit, or did the occasional pop video? It just added to the fun, and potentially seemed capable of bringing a mainstream audience to jazz-rock.People coming to 'Face Value' for the first time may wonder what the dominant style is, 'In the Air Tonight' apart. And the answer is jazz-rock. Well, one band in particular: Weather Report. Listeners are strongly advised to buy that band's 'Heavy Weather' and 'Black Market'. (It is no coincidence that Genesis's concert drummer was Chester Thompson, who had also played drums on 'Black Market', nor that the bassist on that album was Al Johnson, who also plays on 'Face Value'.) Basically, 'Face Value' was a popularised version of Weather Report, updated with vocals and drum machines.Read more ›